Warehouse functions: a comprehensive overview

A warehouse consists of a number of functions that mesh. To do good work in your own function it is important to understand the whole: what happens before and after what you do and how does your work affect the other links? This overview connects the individual tasks.

§The general functions

• 01Reception: receive goods and inspect them.
• 02Warehouse: placing the goods on a fixed, registered location.
• 03Storage: care for goods and maintain order and rotation.
• 04Picking: fetch the goods an order requires.
• 05Packing: preparing the order for transport.
• 06Consignment: send the right goods on their way documented.

§The functions are connected

Each function depends on the previous one being performed correctly. An inaccurate receipt gives errors in the inventory that affect picking. Poor storage makes picking slow. A sloppy pack damages the goods, no matter how well it was picked. Therefore, quality in each link is a shared task.

§Supporting functions.

Beyond the core functions, there are tasks that keep the warehouse running: inventories and warehouse corrections, handling of returns and deviations, maintenance of equipment such as trucks, and tidiness and cleanliness. They are no less important — they are what keep quality up over time.

§Your role in the flow

Regardless of which function you work in, you are part of a chain that ends with the customer. When you deliver correctly and report deviations instead of hiding them, you make it possible for the other links to succeed. Warehouse work is teamwork.

With an overview of the functions and their connections you can perform your own task better and contribute to a warehouse that delivers the right thing at the right time.